No disruption in peace talks for deep South

BANGKOK, April 30 (TNA) -- Peace talks for deep southern Thailand between the government and the insurgent groups are still continuing without a disruption, said Gen Aksara Kerdphol, chief negotiator representing the government for the talks. Insisting that peace talks are strictly following the prime minister’s policy and it takes time for both sides to build trust against each other, Gen Aksara said latest peace negotiations took place in Malaysia on Wednesday. Gen Aksara said he had conveyed best wishes by the prime minister to representatives of insurgent groups attending the talks and thanked all concerned parties to still attending the talks in an attempt to explore ways to find peace in the troubled southern region. There was only a single issue that both sides disagreed, he said, adding that he had set a technical team to specify safety zones in the area in order to build up confidence for native people in the troubled region. "But the insurgent groups wanted to have a joint memorandum of understanding (MoU) while I had told them before that it was difficult because they did not hold any position," said Gen Aksara. Gen Aksara said he had informed them it was necessary to build trust first and an MoU was considered as the beginning of cooperation. If bloody violence continues in the deep South, the society will not trust the ongoing peace negotiations, therefore, it is necessary to end the violence first before an agreement could be prepared, he said. What the government is doing is to try to separate insurgent groups who are fighting for ideology from those unlawful groups in which participants at the meeting understood, he said. Previous MoUs will have to be considered by concerned government agencies that they do not contradict with Thailand’s law and international norms. He said peace negotiations between both sides were not stalled and they would continue. Touching on a recent removal of Lt Gen Nakrob Bunbuathong as secretary-general of the government’s peace talks team with the insurgent groups, Gen Aksara said it was part of a routine shake-up and job rotation after he had served several years in the post. Lt Gen Nakrob has been promoted, he added. (TNA)